FireDAC Multi-Device Data Access Library

Universal Enterprise Data Connectivity

FireDAC is a Universal Data Access library for developing applications for multiple devices, connected to enterprise databases. With its powerful universal architecture, FireDAC enables native high-speed direct access from Delphi and C++Builder to InterBase, SQLite, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, DB2, SQL Anywhere, Advantage DB, Firebird, Access, Informix, DataSnap and more.

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FireDAC is a powerful, yet easy-to-use access layer that supports, abstracts, and simplifies data access, providing all the features needed to build real-world high-load applications. FireDAC provides a common API for accessing different database back-ends, without giving up access to unique database-specific features and without compromising on performance. Use FireDAC for in Windows, Mac OS X and iOS applications you are developing for PCs, tablets and smartphones.

FireDAC Features include:

Data Access Engine

FireDAC datasets are built on top of a powerful data access engine. This lightweight, effective and flexible engine can be used directly in applications and serves as a powerful foundation to the datasets API. The engine consists of the dataset components and the non-component layers, represented by the flexible object oriented APIs.

• Easy to use TDataSet descendant classes including TADQuery, TADMemTable, TADStoredProc, and TADTable
• Dataset classes that are highly compatible with original BDE datasets and ClientDataSet
• One of the fastest in-memory datasets, with sorting, filtering, aggregates, filtered and expression indexes, persistence and more
• Local SQL engine for executing SQL queries against datasets

High-Performance Data Access

Database access is optimized using many different techniques often found only in database-specific components, which let you get faster data access out of the box.

• Live Data Window mode enabling fast bi-directional navigation through large datasets
• Array Data Manipulation Language (DML) command execution and Command Batches for batch applications and for minimizing network traffic
• Customizable and flexible "row set" fetching
• Direct support for asynchronous command execution, command execution timeout, and command execution canceling
• Automatic, efficient and sophisticated update command generation and execution
• Cached updates mode with ability to track correlated changes for several datasets with cascading updates
• Full support for auto-incrementing fields, including those based on generators and table triggers

Unified API

FireDAC provides a range of features that help abstract the differences between database systems, making it easy to write code that does not have to be concerned about different DBMS dialects or other subtle differences between DBMSs.

• SQL dialect abstraction through FireDAC escape sequences, conditional statements and macros
• Data type unification with flexible and adjustable data type mapping
• Unified error reporting, including DBMS-independent and DBMS-specific error information
• Unified transaction support, with separate read and update transactions, and access to the full power of the specific transactions support of InterBase and Firebird
• Support for multiple Unicode and ANSI encodings
• Automatic connection recovery, automatically re-establishing the connection in case of an unstable environment
• Disconnected connection mode, allowing application to continue to work without a physical connection to a database
• Database events and notifications support
• Unified SQL scripts support
• Extended metadata retrieval capabilities

Native Driver Support

In addition to universal DBMS connectivity, FireDAC also support native database drivers that give you first-class access to the powerful and advanced features that make each database unique.

• Access to specific APIs and features for several databases:
  • MySQL
  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Oracle Database
  • InterBase
  • PostgreSQL
  • DataSnap
  • SQLite
  • Sybase SQL Anywhere
  • Microsoft Access
  • IBM DB2 Server
  • Firebird
  • Advantage Database
• Support for services like backup, restore, security management, and more
• New in XE4! – Database access on iOS for these databases:
  • InterBase – InterBase ToGo and IBLite
  • SQLite

Get started with FireDAC today

• See how to buy or get FireDAC free for Delphi, C++Builder or RAD Studio XE4
• Check out the FireDAC FAQ for answers to frequently asked questions
• View the FireDAC documentation online for additional technical details and how-to tips

Introduction to FireDAC